Showing posts with label David Gill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Gill. Show all posts
Manchester United have announced their third major sponsorship deal in a week with Africa’s largest mobile telephone operator, MTN Group Ltd. This is the club’s third lucrative agreement in the space of a week.
Following on from high-profile partnerships with Telekom Malaysia and Turkish Airlines, Manchester United have added a seven-figure contract with African telecoms giant MTN that will see the company become their exclusive South African telecommunications partner for the next three-and-a-half years.
The deal will see MTN become the South African extension of the club with exclusive mobile content and online inventory such as match highlights, player profiles, ringtones available to customers for download through the MTN Play entertainment portal.
Additionally, MTN has the rights to produce co-branded premiums and will receive signed memorabilia to use in competitions to reward its customers. It will also offer exclusive United-branded MTN products such as airtime vouchers and will run competitions for its customer base where some lucky fans will get an opportunity to have one-on-one interactions with players in the local and international football arena.
Man United Chief Executive David Gill said: "The partnership with MTN is a very important step in the club's plan to get closer to its fans based all over the world. MTN's strength, particularly in the pre-paid market will provide us with the perfect platform to achieve that."
Edwin van der Sar, Antonio Valencia and Patrice Evra were at Old Trafford for the announcement of this partnership.
Sir Bobby Charlton also attended the launch. The United legend said: "I’m delighted to welcome MTN to our club. The fact we have sponsors in various parts of the globe and millions of fans in different countries makes me feel quite proud. But it’s not a surprise to me because ever since I was a player here, I’ve always been well aware that our fans are everywhere in the world.”
Manchester United have signed a three-and-a-half year deal with Turkish Airlines. This seems to be a multi-million pound sponsorship deal which will make Turkish Airlines, the official airline partner for the Red Devils.
Turkish Airlines is Europe's fourth-largest carrier by passenger numbers. As the team's official carrier, Turkish Airlines will transport the club's players and officials to relevant matches, tournaments and training camps throughout Europe and the World.
The three-and-a-half year deal will see the airline’s fleet livery carry the Manchester United crest as well as other iconic club and player imagery on the airline’s fuselage. The airline will receive a number of rights from the deal including perimeter board advertising at Old Trafford and consumer promotions using the club’s intellectual properties.
While revealing details of the sponsorship, United players Wayne Rooney, Edwin van der Sar, Nani, Ji Sung Park and Darren Fletcher were at Old Trafford alongside the Club’s Chief Executive David Gill, Director of Commercial Richard Arnold, Turkish Airlines Chairman Hamdi Topcu, and Co – Chairman Cemal Şanlı.
While welcoming the deal, David Gill said:
We are delighted to have secured a long term partnership with Turkish Airlines. This deal is yet another indication of the global appeal of Manchester United and we are very pleased to welcome them to the Club.
They are already proving to be a dynamic and committed partner which will no doubt allow us to further develop the reach of Manchester United and for Turkish Airlines to grow their customer base in Manchester and around the World.
Last week, Manchester United partnered with Telekom Malaysia making them "Integrated Telecommunications Partner" of Manchester United in Malaysia.
Manchester United has signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Malaysia’s leading telecommunications provider - Telekom Malaysia. The partnership will bring online content to MU supporters and TM customers, as well as giving fans the chance to win trips to Old Trafford to watch the team play.
This deal will make Telekom Malaysia the "Integrated Telecommunications Partner" of Manchester United in Malaysia. This communications group was an official partner for United's tour of Asia in 2009. Through this deal, United would look to tap in to Far East market where they have a huge fan following.
Man United has a large fan base in the East Asian country. It was probably the David Beckham era that raised the popularity of the club in Asian countries like Japan, Malaysia and Korea. This recent long term deal would help raise its profile further.
United's CEO David Gill was delighted about a five-year deal. He said,
Anyone who went on our tour of the Far East last summer knows the strength of feeling that Malaysians have for the club. Over 40,000 attended our training session and another 40,000 came to the second match in Kuala Lumpur, despite only having 48 hours' notice of the fixture.
The press launch for the partnership was attended by David Gill, Sir Alex Ferguson and players Wes Brown, Jonny Evans and John O'Shea.
Sir Alex commented,
The size of our fan base in Malaysia, and the affection they have for our club, is phenomenal. The statistic that almost 25 per cent of the Malaysian population support Manchester United is staggering, quite incredible.
I know this will be a fantastic partnership because we share the same ambition, to be the best at what we do. We’re always striving to do that here at United. We’re very much alike in that respect.
Manchester United CEO David Gill has hinted that the Red Devils have £100million to spend in the summer transfer market. This should be a good news on the ears of Sir Alex Ferguson, especially after the huge debt saga surrounding the club.
There were widespread rumours that Manchester United was low on cash and Fergie’s hands were tied by the owners of the club. The fact that majority of the world record £80million fee received from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo remained unspent was acting as a testimony that United were cash strapped.
However, David Gill insists that manager Sir Alex has plenty of cash at his disposal during the summer transfer window. This means that United have funds to bring in some world class players to Old Trafford such as Ribery, David Villa and Manuel Neuer who have been consistently linked with the Red Devils.
There were widespread rumours that Manchester United was low on cash and Fergie’s hands were tied by the owners of the club. The fact that majority of the world record £80million fee received from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo remained unspent was acting as a testimony that United were cash strapped.
However, David Gill insists that manager Sir Alex has plenty of cash at his disposal during the summer transfer window. This means that United have funds to bring in some world class players to Old Trafford such as Ribery, David Villa and Manuel Neuer who have been consistently linked with the Red Devils.
Gill told BBC Radio Five Live: "The owners understand that they will only get value back by ensuring the team continues to be successful and continues to attract exciting players and produces results off the pitch as well. They are in it for the long term."
So far United have spent £15million on Antonio Valencia and around £7million by signing Fulham's highly-promising England Under-21 defender Chris Smalling. Gabriel Obertan costed £3million while Michael Owen arrived on a free transfer. So collectively, we have spent about £25million and have funds to bring in new faces. Gill said, "I do not have a clue about how many players we would buy in the summer. We have well over £100million in the bank, so we will assess the squad over the next few months and go into the market as appropriate.
United’s chief executive also suggested that Wayne Rooney will not be sold under any circumstances. He hinted at putting Rooney on a new long-term contract whose current contract expires in 2012.
So far United have spent £15million on Antonio Valencia and around £7million by signing Fulham's highly-promising England Under-21 defender Chris Smalling. Gabriel Obertan costed £3million while Michael Owen arrived on a free transfer. So collectively, we have spent about £25million and have funds to bring in new faces. Gill said, "I do not have a clue about how many players we would buy in the summer. We have well over £100million in the bank, so we will assess the squad over the next few months and go into the market as appropriate.
United’s chief executive also suggested that Wayne Rooney will not be sold under any circumstances. He hinted at putting Rooney on a new long-term contract whose current contract expires in 2012.
Manchester United have announced the appointment of John Alexander as their new club secretary. He will take up the position at Old Trafford at the end of the season after the retirement of the present secretary - Ken Ramsden.
John has been the Secretary at Spurs since 2000 and before that he was Club Secretary at Watford. He started his playing career with Millwall, Reading and Northampton Town, before retiring in 1982. He has done excellent work at Spurs and they were reluctant to let him go but John Alexander had already made up his mind to join Manchester United.
For filing up this post, United's CEO David Gill had started a massive recruitment process in September 2009, which included advertisements in national newspapers which attracted many high quality applications from the world of football and beyond. However, an official statement on Manchester United's website confirms John's appointment.
Its interesting that John Alexander is only the fifth Secretary for Manchester United since the war. He follows Walter Crickmer (1926-1958), Les Olive (1958-1988), Kenneth Merrett (1988-2007) and Ken Ramsden (2007-2010).
David Gill welcomed the appointment. He said: “John is the perfect candidate to succeed Ken. He is a real football man with a wealth of experience in the game. Everyone is delighted that he has accepted the chance to play a major part in the Club’s development. The Club would like to thank Spurs for their co-operation during this process, in particular agreeing to John’s early release from his contractual obligations, which allows us to ensure continuity in the post when Ken retires.”
Manchester United is one of the best football clubs in the world and Sir Alex Ferguson is the most decorated manager in England. It is very difficult to replace this man once he steps down. But that has to happen and happen soon. So who will replace Fergie?
I wish Sir Alex could continue forever at Old Trafford. But all good things come to an end and probably he might think of stepping down after the end of next season. Of course, there is ample amount of time for management to find his successor, but who will he be?
Manchester United CEO, David Gill and Sir Bobby Charlton have been asked to hire the successor to Sir Alex Ferguson. They have been considering lot of names and have even consulted Fergie about this matter. Its difficult to say who would be the next United manager, but there are some names being linked with the United hot seat.
First of all, Jose Mourinho - the Special One. He has time and again indicated his desire to return to England. There is no secret that Mourinho wants to manage Manchester United. In fact, he is optimistic that Sir Alex will recommend him as his successor when he retires.
Next in line is Carlos Queiroz who was the deputy of Sir Alex for more than 5 years. Queiroz left United when he was appointed as the new head coach of Portugal last year. I don't doubt his abilities but his managerial performance at Real Madrid and Portugal has not really been something which one could expect at Old Trafford.
Laurent Blanc has also been linked with Manchester United. This ex Red Devil is currently managing French club - Bordeaux. He has been instrumental in transforming the club from a being mere football team to becoming the French champions in a short span of time. A recent article on Mirror reported the Blanc has emerged to top the Manchester United short-list of managers to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson.
Though these 3 names are mostly discussed, I believe there are a few others who might be considered for this top job. Those include Mark Hughes, Sam Allardyce, Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Roy Keane (why not?) and David Moyes. Fergie has been a great admirer of Moyes (Scottish connection.. huh?) for his awesome work at Everton and might get a strong push.
But there's a clear message that replacing Sir Alex will be the toughest job since Matt Busby left the club. It isn’t just about winning at United. It’s about playing the game the right way and upholding the traditions. Fergie has done that for over 20 years and has nurtured and created legends at Old Trafford. It will indeed be a big day when he retires as the manager of Manchester United.
Who do you think is the best suited candidate for United job and why?
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